I became tired of tax-cutters and warmongers claiming to themselves alone the mantle of patriot.All of we ordinary Americans, who sweat and bleed and toil and care, all of us who keep our country running, while others try to run it down and destroy the safety net, we are the true patriots.
So, I was inspired to write a socially-acceptable patriotic song, for ordinary working Americans. Not an angry, mean-hearted, selfish song. But a warm and generous social anthem for all of us.
The recorded version is on MySpaceMusic here.
Now, I'm no Bruce Springsteen. But the song is not about me. It is about those who are most at risk in our country.
Ignore the singer. Listen to the song. Sing it. Share it. But most of all, spread the word, so that all ordinary Americans may know that we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them in these trying times.
The blog for the song is here.
I set out the lyrics below.
Oh. And why am I posting this song on my Weaver Street Market Co-op blog? Hmm. I think Weavers can work that one out for themselves ... !!
"From the factories to the farmyards
Where we work and till the soil
We keep our country running
With our backbone and our toil
From the mountains of Montana
To the Gulf shore, with its oil
We sweat and grind and break our backs
And risk health beyond call
We're not corporations
Making wealth for the few
We are the whole nation
The Red, White and Blue
We're not about money
We want justice too
It's not just the rich
It's you and me too
We're the Red, White and Blue
It's not a sin to offer
A helping hand to those
Who can not make both ends meet
Through sweat and tears alone
There is no faith nor charity
In claiming liberty
And being mean and selfish
To deny equality
We're not corporations ...
There are those who doubt us
They say it can't be done
What we say, we've said before
And that is, 'Yes We Can!'
We will stand together
With hope and dignity
It's not just the rich
It's you and me too
We're the Red, White and Blue
From the streets of Cairo, Egypt
To the shanties in Darfur
They look to us for democracy
Not arms to make more war
It's not about our dollar bill
But strength and guts and will
The world loves Martin Luther King
And the freedom songs we sing
We're not corporations ...
We're not a split nation
Giving rights to the few
We are One America
The Red, White and Blue
We know without thinking
What we need to do
It's right and it's true
It's you and me too
We're the Red, White and Blue"
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